Tire flap



Nov. 3, 1925 1,560,498

'r. A. BEANEY TIRE FLAP Filed! KW. 25, 1924 Patented Nov. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS A. BEANEY, OF POU'G-HKEEP SIE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO BEANEY RUBBER COMPANY, INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TIE-E FLAIR.

Application filed November 25, 1924. Serial No. 752,245.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. BEANEY, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, have invented an Im provement in Tire Flaps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a liner or flap to be placed between the inner tube and rim for the protection of the former and is in the nature of an improvement upon the liner or flap shown in the United States Reissue Patent No. 15,861 to William Beaney, possessing all of the advantages of said liner of flap and certain other advantages which will appear as the description progresses.

In thedrawing':

Fig. 1 is an edge view, partly in section, of one form of the liner,

Fig. 2 is an edge view, partly insection, of another form of liner,

Fig. 3' is a fragmentary sectional View taken longitudinally of the flap? and showing the manner in which the ends are ad justably secured together,

Fig. 4 is a section of line 4-4 of Fig. 3, and- Fig. 5 isa fragmentary perspective View.

The flap, which is made of any desirable material and of a thickness such as to impart to it a semi-rigid condition, is of such form in transverse section that it will lie flat'against the inner walls of the casing or shoe and against the rim and bridge the space between the beads of the casing, completing the desired contour.

The flap is non-continuous, actually, although in effect is continuous and is made essentially of a plurality of sections. I have illustrated, in Fig. 1, one form, which in.- cludes two sections, 1 and 2, the ends of which sections overlap and are adapted to slide upon each other to permit the automatic adjustment of the flap when the latter is placed within a shoe and the tube inflated. These overlapping ends of the sections 1 and 2 are attached together for such sliding movement by suitable means such, for instance, as shown in the drawing. In this embodiment section 1 carries a loop or keeper 3 at one of its ends and a loop or keeper 4 at its opposite end, whereas section 2 carries loops or keepers 5 at its ends, the loops or keepers 3'and 4 embracing and being slidable upon the section 2.

The valve. stem opening 6 is located substantially midway between the ends of the section 1 for a purpose which will later appear. F urtherl'nore, the loop or keeper 4 on the section 1 may be so constructed that one end 7 is detachably secured to the-section or to the other end of the keeper by separable fasteners 8 so that the section 1 may be used with a section 2 of a given length or with a similar section 2 ot' a different length, that is to say, the section 2 may be removed and replaced by a section of a different length without destroying or mutilating either of the sections 1 or 2.

Of course, the flap in its entirety may be constructed and assembled in a factory and in this event the keepers or loops 3, 4 and 5 may be permanently secured in their ultimate form to the ends of the sections by which they are carried and this securing may of course be done in the factory, that is to say, sections land 2 may be assembled with the ends of each sliding upon those of the other and with loops or keepers permanently attached to the sections of the flap. However, it may be desirable, in some cases, to put out to the trade a stock of sections such as 1 and stocks of sections such as 2 of different lengths so that the flap may be made upto lit the particular tire or casing into which it is placed. and is to be used. In this latter case the sections 1 and 2 will be prepared at the factory with the loops or keepers on the section 2 (01. on the section 1 if desired) in their permanent form and with the loop or keeper on one .end of the other section 1 of a construction so that the one end of the loop may be'detached andsecured after the adjacent end of the section has been inserted through the adjacent loop on the opposing-section. For instance, in the case of the assembly of the two sections by a dealer, one end of the section 2 may be inserted throughthe keeper 3 and moved to such a position that the keeper 5 will be adjacent the keeper 3. Then the opposite end of the section 1 will be inserted through the loop or keeper 5 on-the opposite end of I tion 1 in the form shown in Fig. 1 spaces the section 2 and the loop or keeper l then folded or formed about the section 2 and secured in this position by the separable fasteners 8. It is thus possible to supply a dealer with stock of the standard sections 1 of a standard length and of stocks of sections 2 of various lengths and for the dealer to associate with the section 1, or the standard section, a section 2 of the proper length for the particular casing in which the flap is to be used and yet to obtain all of the benefits accruing from the particular construction of the flap.

In Fig. 2 of the drawing I have illustrated another embodimentof the invention wherein three sections 1, 2 and 2 are used, and it is to be understood that these forms are simply illustrative, for the number of sections may be increased as the exigency arises.

In use, after the flap has been placed within the casing and the casing upon the rim, the inflation of the tube will cause a contraction of the flap and this will be accom-' panied by the sliding of the ends of the sections upon each other so that there will be an adjustment of the affected length of the flap at each point where the ends of the sections overlap. Furthermore, the location of the valve stem opening 6 substantially midway between the ends of the seethe effective weight of the overlapping ends of the sections and of the keepers substan tially equidistant from the valve stem and thus forms a three-point balance within the tire, the weight of the overlapping ends of the flaps and the loops counteracting the effect of the weight of the valve stem and its'associated parts and functioning to cause a more even running of the wheel. This of course will be true irrespective of the fact that the section 2 is not of a permanent length, that is to say, sections of various lengths may be associated with the section- 1 because of the fact that the variation in the length of the sections 2 for the accommodation of the flap to various sizes of wheels is within such a relatively small range that the distribution of the weight Will not be materially shifted.

Furthermore, in the form of the flap shown in Fig. 2 the overlapping ends of the three sections act to counterbalance the valve stem and in this case form in effect a fourpoint balance. Naturally as the sections are increased in number the balance becomes more perfect.

There is another advantage of considerable importance predicated upon the use of more than one section and that is, a quicker adjustment. For instance, when a flap of one piece with overlapping ends is used the ends must slide upon each other to effect the entire adjustment, whereas when the number is increased the adjustment is distributed between all of the overlapping ends and the necessary sliding movement is decreased in proportion to the increase of the number of sections.

\Vhile I have illustrated and described a particular form of my invention it is to be understood that various changes in the details of construction may be made within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of theclaims.

1. A tire flap including a plurality of sections having overlapping ends slidable upon'each other and means for guiding the ends in their sliding movements.

2. A tire flap including a plurality of sections having overlapping ends slidable upon each other and means for guiding the ends in their sliding movements, and having a valve stem receiving opening located substantially midway between the ends of one of the sections.

3. A tire flap including a plurality of sections having overlapping ends slidable upon each other and means for guiding the ends in their sliding movements, and having a valve stem receiving opening located remote from the ends of one of the sections.

4. A tire flap including a plurality of sections having overlapping ends slidable upon each other and a guide keeper carried by eachend and embracing the adjacent end of the adjacent section.

5. A tire flap including a plurality of .sections having overlapping ends slidable .THOMAS A. BEANEY. 

